Friday, December 31, 2010

THE COMPOUND by S.A. Bodeen



When you are a billionaire scientist you can afford to do whatever is necessary to protect your family in the event of a nuclear war.  Eli's father does just that.  He builds an underground compound designed to securely house his family for the 15 years it would take for the atmosphere to return to normal after a nuclear attack.

It has been six years since the family has entered the compound.  Well, at least part of the family.  With only a 40 minute warning before the attack, Eli's twin brother and their grandmother were not able to make it to the safety of the compound.  Eli still mourns the loss of his brother as he attempts to cope in his underground home. 

The compound was designed to meet all the family's needs from food to education and entertainment until they could return to a normal life.  Despite clever and expensive planning, life in the compound has deteriorated.  First, it was the livestock.  Contaminated feed caused the death of all the animals that were to provide fresh meat and dairy products for the residents.  Eli is also worried that the vegetables he watches over will not continue to thrive because the special bulbs needed to sustain the plants' growth are missing from the storage area.  His mother has recently shared that the flour supply guaranteed to last forever has now gone bad.

When Eli stumbles across a laptop located in his brother's unused room, he finds that he is able to log on to the internet.  When he receives an IM message from his supposedly dead brother, he begins to suspect that his father is not just using the compound to protect them, but perhaps to hold them captive.

S.A. Bodeen creates frightening possibilities in THE COMPOUND.  Ever since the second world war, the thought of a nuclear war that could destroy the world as we know it, has inspired people to investigate ways to protect themselves.  Bodeen's story takes that fear and adds a scientific twist that turns one man's attempt to protect his family into a chilling tale.

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